Webcam Invites Community To Watch Pendleton West Addition Take Shape From The Ground Up

September 10, 2015

Curious about what’s going on behind those blue construction fences near the Davis Museum and Jewett and Pendleton Halls? Wonder no more—in fact, watch! A new webcam installed on the roof of the north end of Jewett offers a bird’s eye view of the Pendleton West construction site. The live feed from the camera will allow the community to watch the project develop from the ground up.

“Over time, what people will see is a complex concrete structure rising out of the ground,” said Jon Alvarez, Wellesley’s Director of Design and Construction. In the coming weeks and months, observers can watch retaining walls form and the building’s footings go into place. Later, concrete walls will be poured and, this spring, board-formed concrete panels will be hoisted into position. That’s just a snapshot of what will take place over the next year and a half.

Pendleton West construction and renovation began in June. The addition will add roughly 10,000 square-feet of space for visual and musical arts, including a new Center for Creative Arts and a brand-new Music Arts Pavilion. A music salon will provide a venue for student recitals, chamber music performances, rehearsals, lessons, and classroom teaching, as well as a large music hall that will be acoustically tuned for large ensemble rehearsals. The addition will also include a classroom with high-quality audio-video technology, lobbies, restrooms, and bridges and passages that connect Jewett and Pendleton West.

The larger plan for Pendleton West re-envisions all of the spaces for work in the studio arts. The renovated building will feature environmentally controlled studios to accommodate artists working in a wide range of media: printmaking, painting and drawing, papermaking, woodworking and metal sculpture, photography, video, and digital. It will also contain flexible classroom and storage spaces, and faculty and staff offices. The building is expected to open for classes in 2017.